New research shows immigration is not driving voter anger, yet the Coalition is targeting it anyway – risking further losses in the diverse, urban seats it must win back. (more…)
Category: Immigration
-
On asylum, the Coalition is offering old fixes to problems of its own making
The Coalition’s asylum plan repackages familiar measures that have failed before, while sidestepping its role in creating a large and growing backlog of unsuccessful applicants. (more…)
-
Angus Taylor and the Liberal Party’s moral decline
Paul Keating says Angus Taylor’s embrace of “values” politics marks a return to racism, abandoning the Liberal Party’s traditions in favour of base political appeal. (more…)
-
Values-based citizenship is vague, selective and dangerous
Angus Taylor’s plan to tie citizenship to “Australian values” rely on vague definitions and risk embedding double standards, exclusion and anti-foreign sentiment. (more…)
-
Australia’s pre-emptive strike against Iranian asylum seekers
A new law allows Australia to block entire groups of visa holders from entering the country – a sharp break from past practice with major consequences for asylum policy.
-
When will housing completions in Australia overtake population growth?
Australia’s housing pressures reflect years of mismatched policy – with falling supply colliding with surging migration and labour market shocks.
-
‘I lost hope in humanity, but I now call myself human’: what refugees told us about settling in regional Australia
Research shows refugee settlement in regional Australia is largely positive, strengthening communities, local economies and social cohesion despite ongoing challenges.
(more…) -
Another High Court rebuke on immigration laws – and a warning on rushed policymaking
A new High Court ruling has struck down the Albanese government’s restrictions on former immigration detainees – exposing the risks of rushed, politically driven lawmaking. (more…)
-
Grandstanding government right off-side – Message from the Editor
I have never been cynical about politics. At my 1980s high school, I confused many by having then Prime Minister Bob Hawke plastered across my A4 binder instead of Bruce Springsteen or Boy George. After starting life in journalism, where there were plenty of cynics, I horrified my editor by leaving to work for the Federal ALP. He dubbed the move the worst decision I had ever made. But I was unmoved. (more…)
-
Immigration and toxic nostalgia
A counterfactual simulation suggests Australia would be smaller, older and economically weaker today if immigration policy had remained restricted to predominantly European sources. (more…)
-
Treatment of Iranian asylum seekers reeks of contradictions
Australia quickly offered protection to Iranian women footballers who drew global attention. At the same time, new migration laws aim to prevent other Iranian visa holders from even reaching Australia. (more…)
-
Selective compassion in Australia’s refugee policy
Australia’s decision to grant humanitarian visas to Iranian footballers highlights how refugee policy often rewards cases that fit convenient political narratives.
-
Angus Taylor’s immigration rhetoric faces policy reality
Calls to reduce immigration by “raising standards” sound tough, but current visa settings are already far tighter than in 2022 and further cuts would come with economic costs. (more…)
-
Let’s not turn back the clock on immigration
Australia needs a forward-looking, evidence-based immigration policy from the Liberal Party. They should drop the slogans, fear mongering and backward-looking thinking. (more…)
-
Is Hanson planning to copy Trump on mass deportation?
One Nation’s promise to deport 75,000 undocumented migrants echoes Donald Trump’s approach, but the logistics, costs and risks of such a policy are far greater than the rhetoric suggests.
(more…) -
If we’re choosing a national day, there are better options
Australia’s national day marks the beginning of its colonisation. There are better, more meaningful dates that reflect Australian nationhood and democratic choice. (more…)
-
Best of 2025 – Our politicians continue to fail us on immigration policy
As One Nation rises by recycling anti-immigration rhetoric, both major parties are fumbling their response – missing the chance to offer a clear, credible and principled long-term plan.
(more…) -
Best of 2025 – Assessing the Liberal Party’s policy-making capacity
Good policy should be evidence-based. But this is not the case with the Liberals energy policy and seems unlikely with their migration policy. (more…)
-
Best of 2025 – Australia’s fragile multicultural consensus under threat
Anti-immigration rallies around Australia in late August and mid-October exposed public divides over migration, social cohesion and national identity. (more…)
-
Best of 2025 – Courts brace for next wave of ‘sovereign citizens’
When I wrote about the “Cavalcade of the Cretinous” in February 2022, I thought the anti-vaccination early incarnations of “sovereign citizens” were just a hopeless joke (“Summernats without the sophistication”) that would quietly go away. (more…)
-
A beautiful mosaic: celebrating multicultural Australia
Multicultural Australia has enriched the nation’s cultural life, creativity and global standing. These achievements deserve recognition and defence at a time of growing hostility to migration.
-
2025 in Review: immigration policy turns back toward dog whistles and drift
2025 marked a turning point in Australian immigration policy, as long-term planning was abandoned and discriminatory rhetoric returned to the political mainstream. (more…)
-
Refugees aren’t politically progressive by default – and policy needs to catch up
Australian settlement policy often assumes refugees will embrace progressive politics. Research and community experience show refugee political identities are far more diverse – with important implications for law and policy.
-
Fear versus facts: why migrants strengthen Australia
Australia’s multicultural society is not a modern experiment or a social crisis. It is the product of shared effort, grounded in First Nations custodianship and strengthened by generations of migrants who have helped build the nation’s economy, culture and community life.
-
Assessing the Liberal Party’s policy-making capacity
Good policy should be evidence-based. But this is not the case with the Liberals energy policy and seems unlikely with their migration policy. (more…)
-
The shadow of the Tampa
Nearly 25 years on from the Tampa crisis, Australia needs a parliamentary inquiry to lift the lid on offshore detention.
-
Migration myths
Migrants aren’t to blame for expensive houses or stress on infrastructure: in fact they’re making more contribution to our shared assets than Australians. (more…)
-
As Australia welcomes its millionth refugee, its hardline border policies endure. We can lead by example again
Any day now, Australia will welcome its millionth refugee since World War II. (more…)
-
Australia’s fragile multicultural consensus under threat
Anti-immigration rallies around Australia in late August and mid-October exposed public divides over migration, social cohesion and national identity. (more…)
-
When will immigration return to ‘normal’?
Despite assurances from Immigration Minister Tony Burke that immigration is “trending back towards historically normal levels”, all indicators suggest it is once again overshooting Treasury’s projection. Indeed, it looks like the descent may have stalled and might rebound. (more…)